Haikou City, Hainan Province, China - October 24, 2016 - Hilton Worldwide Holdings Inc. (NYSE: HLT), HNA Group and Blackstone (NYSE: BX) announced today that HNA will acquire an approximate 25 percent equity interest in Hilton from affiliates of Blackstone, establishing a long-term strategic investment in Hilton and Hilton's planned spin-offs of Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations. The transaction is valued at approximately USD6.5 billion, or USD26.25 per share in cash, reducing Blackstone's interest in Hilton to approximately 21 percent. The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017. Following Hilton's previously announced spin-offs of Park and HGV, which are expected to occur on or about the end of the year, HNA will own approximately 25 percent of all three companies. As part of the transaction, HNA has entered into a stockholders agreement with Hilton, and into similar agreements with Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations, effective upon closing.

The transaction is valued at approximately $6.5 billion, or $26.25 per share in cash, reducing Blackstone’s interest in Hilton to approximately 21 percent.

The transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2017.

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Photo courtesy of Hilton

Following Hilton’s previously announced spin-offs of Park and HGV, which are expected to occur on or about the end of the year, HNA will own approximately 25 percent of all three companies.

As part of the transaction, HNA has entered into a stockholders agreement with Hilton, and into similar agreements with Park Hotels & Resorts and Hilton Grand Vacations, effective upon closing.

The agreement allows HNA to appoint two directors (one HNA member and one independent member) to Hilton’s Board of Directors, bringing the total to ten members.

Pursuant to the agreement, HNA has agreed to certain restrictions on its ability to sell any of its interest in Hilton for a two-year period, and to limitations on HNA’s ability to acquire more than 25 percent of Hilton’s outstanding shares, without Hilton’s consent.

Furthermore, under the agreement, HNA will vote its shares in excess of 15 percent proportionally with other stockholders, subject to certain exceptions. Blackstone will continue to have two seats on Hilton’s Board, including Jon Gray who will remain chairman.

Hilton Lagos Airport Exterior
Photo courtesy of Hilton

“We are pleased to welcome HNA Group as a long-term investor and strategic partner,” said Christopher J. Nassetta, president and CEO of Hilton. “HNA Group has a broad portfolio of successful travel and hospitality businesses and a proven track record of creating value in this industry. We believe this mutually beneficial relationship will open new opportunities for our brands and guests around the world, particularly in light of HNA’s strong position in the fast-growing Chinese travel and tourism market, the largest outbound travel and tourism market in the world.”

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Photo courtesy of Hilton

“Hilton is an iconic global hospitality company with an unmatched portfolio of high-quality brands and a reputation for operational excellence,” said Adam Tan, vice chairman and CEO of HNA Group.
“This investment is consistent with our strategy to enhance our global tourism business, and we look forward to working together on new initiatives that leverage our respective strengths, expertise and tourism platforms to provide travelers more choice, value and world-class services.”

“Since our initial investment in Hilton nine years ago, the company and its leadership team have delivered phenomenal results,” said Jon Gray, global head of real estate, Blackstone, and chairman of the Hilton Board of Directors. “We think the company’s future is bright, and this long-term investment from HNA Group only adds to its potential.”

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Photo courtesy of Hilton

Evercore served as exclusive financial advisor and WilmerHale and Morris, Nichols, Arsht & Tunnell LLP served as legal advisors to the special committee of Hilton’s Board of Directors.

J.P. Morgan served as exclusive financial advisor and Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP served as legal counsel to HNA.

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP served as legal counsel to Blackstone.

HNA Group Profile

HNA Group is a conglomerate grew and prospered against the backdrop of China’s reform and opening up.

Debut flight on May 2, 1993 signifies the beginning of its undertakings.

In over 20 years, it has created a miracle in the business community, successfully transforming from a traditional aviation company to a conglomerate, from Hainan Island to the globe.

It is committed to create a business culture of new era featuring socialist values and modern corporate system, a distinct operation and management model that integrates the interests of the society and others with itself.

HNA Group was founded in 1993.
In the past two decades, it grew and prospered against the backdrop of China’s reform and opening up.

Developed from a local aviation transportation operator to a conglomerate encompassing core divisions of tourism, holding, capital, logistics and EcoTech, HNA Group’s business outreach has expanded from Hainan Island - the South Sea Pearl to the globe, which has assets valued at over RMB 600 billion, and has 12 listed companies.

HNA Group lands on the 2015 Fortune 500 for the First Time on July, 2015, ranking No. 464 with annual revenue of over USD 25.6 billion.
In July 2016, HNA Group was listed among Fortune Global 500 once again, ranking NO. 353 with annual revenue of approximately US $29.56 billion.
The ranking rose by 111 positions compared with last year.

As of December 2015, HNA Group has a fleet of nearly 1250 aircrafts, serving nearly 1000 domestic and international routes, flying to over 260 cities, and has served 90 million passengers annually.

The flagship subsidiary - Hainan Airlines has been certified as a SKYTRAX Five-star Airlines for six consecutive years since 2011.

According to the “World’s Safest Airlines” released by Germany’s Jet Airliner Crash Data Evaluation Centre (JACDEC), Hainan Airlines ranks as the world’s No.5th and mainland China’s first airline on the list with its zero accident rates.

Deer Jet has been named the World’s Leading Private Jet Charter Company by the WTA, and is also the first Chinese Private Charter operator to win the NBAA Corporate Business Flying Safety Award.

Its leasing business covers professional leasing in aircraft, ship, container, and infrastructure etc, and Bohai Capital is the only listed leasing company in China’s A-share market and the world’s largest container leasing company.

It is also the world’s 4th largest aircraft leasing service provider with a fleet of nearly 550 aircrafts.
HNA's insurance business has over 1100 outlets.

HNA Tourism, considering outbound tourism as the leading, focuses on finance and tourism electronic commerce development.
We continuously integrate all kinds of resources within tourism industry chain and build a closed loop around the passenger consumption chain of tourism products.

Caissa Touristic, China’s Top outbound tour operator, which runs more than 240 travel agencies, providing more than 8000 categories of high-end travel products.

“E-life Finance”, a financial subsidiary that has full license services, gradually becoming an innovation industry and building industry barriers.
It has third-party payment license permits, cross-border payments, all the individual local franchise exchange, a number of microfinance exit drawbacks such as business licenses and permits.

HNA Hospitality Group, was established in 1997, strives to create a global hotel brand, to lead quality of lifestyle and to become the world’s leading hotel operator investment group.
It has formed high-end luxury hotels, business hotels, resorts, express Inn, property hotels and other diversified portfolio.

The brand “Tangla” is inspired by eastern style, and in March 2016, “Tangla” opened in Brussels, which is China’s first national self-constructed and self-managed hotel brand to go abroad.
It has continuously received and completed security work for national high-visit missions for 5 times.

Haikou Meilan International Airport and Sanya Phoenix International Airport have respectively handled over 16 million passengers annually, ranking the 19th and 18th in China.

Haikou Meilan International Airport won “SKYTRAX Best Regional Airport in China” and its International Terminal also obtained “SKYTRAX 5-Star Terminal”, and Sanya Phoenix International Airport won “SKYTRAX 4-Star Airport” and “SKYTRAX World Best VIP Terminal”.

Meanwhile, Airport Economic and Industrial Parks are built in Haikou, Wuhan and Sanya, with total development areas of nearly 20,000 mu.

HNA Logistics is striving to be a resource integrator and solution provider of the global logistics industry with a business scope covering modern maritime transportation, cold-chain logistics, project logistics, ship manufacture and repair, high-end equipment manufacture, precision manufacture, engineering research and development, industrial and financial investment in logistics, Internet finance, payment technology, and cross-border e-commerce.

With nearly 60 ships of different kinds and an annual transportation capacity of over 42.5 million tons, HNA Logistics also has a subsidiary named HNA Cold Chain, which is the first listed company of NEEQ in the cold chain logistics industry, ranking the first place in the transportation companies in NEEQ.

JINHAI Heavy, as one of China’s Top 10 shipbuilders, is also deemed as one of the largest mono-hull ship yards in Asia with an annual shipbuilding capability of 6 million tons and more than 40 patents by independent research and development.

JINHAI Heavy is also listed in the first white list of shipbuilding enterprises published by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology of China, ranking the 9th owing to the number of holding orders.

HNA Logistics owns the first integrated internet exchange of air and sea transportation in China, the biggest non-bank independent factor in the market of air and sea transportation, and China’s first internet finance platform covering all the fields.
By setting foot in internet finance, payment technology, and cross-border e-commerce, enhancing the life quality of the customers continuously, and spurring the development of inclusive finance, HNA Logistics is now providing integrated solutions to businesses.

HNA Ecological Technology Group is committed to supreme users’ experience, provides technological services based on cloud, big data and internet of things.

With the aspiration of “sharing and ecological economy”, it explores deeply users and services in social e-commerce, technological finance, intelligence life, incubator and other areas.

Licensing and policy resource like virtual operator, payment, cloud trust authorization, cross-border duty free, lay a foundation for building a comprehensive, professional and trustworthy technological service ecology.

Among which Beijing Opera “Mei Lanfang Classics” has been named as national key projects by the national ministry of culture in 2015.

For the past two decades, HNA Group has taken corporate social responsibility as one of its business development strategies.
It holds the corporate culture of “do something for the society, and do something for others” and promotes social harmony with actions.

To date, HNA Group has spent over RMB 1 billion in CSR activities.

HNA Group has developed a series of charity innovations like Brightness Action, Wells for Hainan Arid Areas, HNA Social Innovation and Business Competition, HNA Send Love Home, and has been well-recognized by governments and the society.

Over the years, HNA has been awarded “China Charity Award” for four times, “Outstanding Enterprise in China Corporate Social Responsibility List”, and “South-South Award - Corporate Social Responsibility” by the United Nations.

In October 2010, HNA Group has set up a private foundation - the Hainan Province Cihang Foundation.

In October 2013, HNA Group has donated 22% of its equity to the Foundation, making it become the largest single shareholder of the Group, and also become an important charity platform for HNA to implement social responsibilities and gratitude to the society.

HNAers will always bear in mind the vision of “constructing a world-class conglomerate with China Dream”, carry forward the entrepreneurship of “brave to explore, persist in change, continue to innovation, strive for excellence”, and make greater contribution to the society and mankind, and establish a world-class conglomerate.

It is a due responsibility of 200,000 HNAers to fight for the rejuvenation of Chinese nation and contribute to realization of the China Dream.